Box.



H. R. JOHNSON.

BOX.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.17, 1914.

Patented Dea 8, 1914.

FIE-r- 1.

FIB-

WITNESSES.-

d{ 52% W. F111 7 A TTOR NE YS.

THE NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHOTO-LI THQ, WASHING/LYN, D, C,

HENRY R. JOHNSON, 0F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOX.

Application filed March 17, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY R. JoHNsoN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Box, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in stock, sale and display boxes or shelf boxes designed for holding goods to be sold and for exposing samples of such goods, the same being in the nature of an improvement of the box which forms the subject of my application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 80%,980, and said invention resides in certain adjustable supporting means for a sample or samples, of the contents of the box, which it is desired to expose against one side or wall of said box, and in certain other peculiar features, all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of my invention is to produce a practical, serviceable, and in all respects efficient receptacle for containing goods packed in individual boxes, various kinds of books and other loose or unboxed stock, and, in fact, a very large percentage of the numerous classes of small merchandise, wherein the units in any given species are generally similar in nature, and for displaying to the view of the purchaser a sample of the contents of such receptacle, the holding means for the aforesaid sample, with which the receptacle is provided, enabling the sample to be removed readily for inspection. or sale and as readily returned or replaced by another sample which may be taken from the stock in the box, provision being made for lengthening or shortening or making wider or narrower the space within the sample holder, so that such holder will fit different kinds or thicknesses of samples. The adjustment of the sample-holding means or sample holder is easily, quickly, and conveniently effected, and the range of such adjustment is ample for all purposes.

A further object is to provide the sample side or end of a box of this kind with a substantially plane and unobstructed outer surface, when a cover of usual construction is in place, so that the removal and replacing of such cover does not interfere with the dis- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Serial No. 825,409.

play sample and the cover is not itself interfered with by such sample at any time.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a box which embodies a practical form of my invention; Fig. 2, a front end elevation of said box; Fig. 3, a vertical cross-section through said box and the sample holder or object-supporting members connected therewith; Fig. 1, a central longitudinal vertical section through said box or that portion of the same which is provided with said objectholding members; Fig. 5, a top plan of the upper supporting member, detached; Fig. 6, an enlarged sectional detail of the fastening means for the under supporting member, taken on lines 66, looking in the direction of the associated arrow, in Fig. l, and, Fig. 7, a bottom plan of one of the elements in said fastening means.

Like numerals designate like throughout the several views.

In Figs. 1 and 2, a display sample 1, in the form of a box containing a pack of playing-cards, is represented, the same being shown in position at the front of the box, which latter is designated by the numeral 2.

The box 2 may be of any suitable size and shape to receive, usually through the top which is open, the articles for which such box is designed. An ordinary cover 3 is provided for the box 2. The box 2 is provided in front of one side or wall, such wall being that which constitutes the front end, when the box is of the ordinary rectangular or oblong shape and intended to be placed side by side with others on a shelf, with supporting means for an object, such as that shown (the playing-card box 1) for example. The means just referred to consist of a bottom support or rest 4 for the box or other object (1), and an upper side or side and edge support 5 for such object.

The front wall or end, designated by the numeral 15, is solid, that is to say, there is no opening therethrough into the interior of the box 2, and said wall or end is inset or parts made thinner at the upper end, so that an exterior ledge is formed at 7. The depth or width of the ledge 7 is equal to the thickness of the front flange of the cover 3, and the distance from the top edge of said end down to said ledge is equal to the interior breadth of said flange. Thus the cover .3

can be placed on the box 2 without projecting beyond the outside surface or face of the major portion of the end wall 15; on the contrary, the front cover flange fills in the inset part of said wall, and so converts the entire outer surface of the front end of the box and cover, when said cover is in place, into a plane and unobstructed surface, as clearly. shown in Fig. 1. By constructing the front end 15 in this manner, the way to and from the support 5 is always clear and unobstructed, whether the cover 3 be on or off of the box 2, so that the object (1) can be freely placed in and on the supports 5 and t and removed therefrom, and such object presents no obstruction to said cover.

Although the rest or under support 4 might consist merely of a bottom piece, I prefer for obvious reasons to make the same in the form of a tray having a bottom and front end and side pieces, substantially as shown. This support or tray 4. is received at its rear end in horizontal slots 8 and 9-9 in the bottom and sides of the box 2, said slot 8 being formed in the box bottom for the tray bottom, and said slots 9 being formed in the box sides for the tray sides. The slots 8 and 9 all open through the front end 15. It will now be seen that the tray a is slidingly mounted in the box 2, or longitudinally adjustable therein, and adapted .to be drawn out or pushed in to fit an object of any reasonable thickness at the base.

The upper support 5 in this case is in the form of a U-shaped band or stay, which extends across and projects more or less in front of the end 15 on the outside above the tray 4. The free terminals of the support or stay 5 are received in horizontal slots 1010 in the sides of the box 2. The slots 10 open through the end 15. Thus the stay 5, like the tray 4, is rendered adjustable so that it can be fitted to objects of different thicknesses. The oflice of the stay 5 is to maintain the object resting on or in the tray 4-. in an upright position. The slots 10 constitute upper slide-ways for the sample holder, and the slots 8 and 9 constitute under slide-ways for such holder.

Some means should be provided to hold the tray 1 and the stay 5 in place after adjustment, and means suitable for this purpose will next be described, although it is to be understood that difierent holding'means for either or both supporting members may be employed.

The holding or fastening means for the tray 4 consists of a button or fastener 11 attached to the bottom of the slot 8, in the center, and a short distance from the front end of said slot, and a plate 12 attached centrally and longitudinally to the underside of the bottom of said tray, and having a central longitudinal row of perforations 13 therein for said fastener. The fastener '11 is adapted to fit into any one of the perforations 13 and so hold the trayt normally against endwise movement, but there is sufficient resiliency in that part of the box bottom to which said fastener is attached to yield and permit the tray 4: to be pushed in or out and the plate 12 or the parts thereof that are between the perforations 13 to be moved, when the necessary amount of force is applied to said tray. Thus the tray 1 may be moved longitudinally and secured by thc fastener 11 which enters one of the perforations 13. Adjustment of the tray to fit dif ferent objects or objects of diiferent base thicknesses is thus effected without difficulty. v

The upper support or stay 5 is preferably made of resilient material, which may or may not be wholly or partially covered, having curved of sets H la in the terminals of said stay that enter and slide in the slots 10. The aforesaid terminals provided as they are with the offsets 1 1 frictionally engage the sides of the passages 10, and so hold the stay 5 in place with some little force wher ever the same may be left after being moved in or out properly to adjust it to the thick ness of the object to be inserted therein.

Nhen the box'is to be packed for shipment, the supports 4 and 5 are pushed rearwardly or inwardly until the front members thereof come into contact with the box end 15, and this may also be done at other times when the box or said supports are not required for use. compactness adds to the value of the box, as will'readily be understood. To use the sample holder, it is first necessary to draw out or otherwise adjust the supports at and 5 to the sample or object, as 1, in the manner previously explained. when such object can be passed downward through the support 5 until it comes to rest at the base on and in the support 4, and can This feature of be removed by lifting it out of said supmg a box provided with upper and under slide-ways, and an exterior sample holder o comprising a horizontally-adjustable side support and a horizontally-adjustable base support, said supports respectively having parts that extend into said slide-Ways to operate therein and to be themselves entirely supported thereby.

2. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box, the bottom of said box having a slot therein between the upper and under surfaces thereof, of an object-supporting member slidingly arranged in said slot and extending outside beyond one wall of said box.

3. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box, the bottom of said box having a slot therein between the upper and under surfaces thereof, of an objectsupporting member slidingly arranged in the said slot and extending outside beyond one wall of said box, and fastening means for said support.

4. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box, the bottom of said box having a slot therein between the upper and under surfaces thereof, of an objectsupporting member slidingly arranged in said slot and provided with a fastening member, said support extending outside beyond one wall of said box, and a fastening member attached to said box bottom and extending into said slot in operative relation to said first-mentioned fastening member.

5. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box; of a tray slidingly arranged in the bottom and two walls of said box and extending outside beyond a third wall of said box, a perforated plate on the bottom of said tray, and a fastener attached to said box bottom for said plate.

6. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box; of a substantially U-shaped object-supporting member having its terminals slidingly ar 'anged in two walls of said box and extending outside beyond a third wall of said box.

7. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box, of an adjustable substantially U shaped object supporting member having its terminals arranged in two walls of said box and extending outside beyond a third wall of said box, said member being provided with means normally to hold said member against displacement.

8. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box having slots in two walls thereof, of a substantially U-shaped object-supporting member having terminals to enter said slots and frictionally engage the walls of said slots, said member extending outside beyond a third wall of said box.

9. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box having slots in two walls thereof, of a substantially U-shaped stay having ol'l'sets in the terminals thereof, such terminals with their offsets being adapted to enter and operate in said slots, and said stay extending outside beyond a third wall of said box.

10. The combination, in a stock, sale and display box, with a box having slots in the bottom and two walls thereof at one side or end, of a tray extending into and operating in said bottom and two of said wall slots, and a stay, above said tray, having terminals which extend into and operate in two others of said wall slots, said tray and stay extend-- ing outside and beyond a third wall of said box.

HENRY R. JOHNSON. \Vitnesses F. A. Co'r'rnn, A. C. FAIRBANKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

